Violence Cannot Overcome Nonviolence

Those words spoken by Diane Nash, who then was a 23 year old student at Fisk University, still echos today and without diminishment. Nash originally made her statement in a sober resolve as she explained to a government official that the Freedom Riders traveling from Nashville to Birmingham would not be turning back.

The issue at hand is freedom and freedom for all, but it is so much more than being free of restraint. It is about autonomy — for every individual and for our community. It is respecting the rights and the responsibilities that ever individual has been apportioned. It is supporting self-reflection, self-evaluation, and self-determination.

Resiliency for an individual recovering from trauma requires integration of all parts of the brain and the body, then the individual can begin enjoying the security and support that come integrative relationships. It works the same in reverse.

Resiliency for a community recovering from generations of trauma and toxic stresses requires integration of all of its members (a community’s brain trust), then the community can begin enjoying the security and support from each individual.